Florida Sea Base News

The Florida Sea Base remains oil free and unthreatened for the time being.  The wind has been light but out of the west in the Gulf of Mexico for the past few days.  This has allowed a light sheen of oil to creep farther east along the Gulf coast to Panama City, Florida.  The oil is still several hundred miles from the Florida Sea Base and I check the oil’s progress daily.  The forecast for the next two weeks in the Gulf of Mexico calls for light winds from the south and southeast.  This will tend to move the oil back to the west a little.  I continue to be optimistic that oil from the Deepwater Horizon well will not effect our operations this summer.  And while the Atlantic and Caribbean areas are undoubtedly going to see a very active hurricane season I am still optimistic and hopeful that we might make it through our program season without a major storm affecting the Florida Sea Base.

“Hope for the best but prepare for the worse.”  And that we are doing.  We have another staff meeting from 09:00 to noon today during which we will discuss our preparations in the unlikely event we have to deal with either issue.  The oil is actually fairly simple; if part of our operation is hampered by oil we will move up or down the Keys and work around the oil.  We have dealt with hurricanes many times before but we will review our state of preparedness and action plans again today just so we don’t grow complacent.

In the meantime, the water is warm, visibility is GREAT, seas are calm, and the sun is HOT.  If you have reservations for this summer, your main concerns should be sunburn and dehydration – both of which are relatively easy to prevent.  We send at least one person per week to the ER because they can’t seem to remember to put on sunscreen and to drink water.  It is frustrating for me when an adult leader does not have sufficient control over his/her group to make sure they protect themselves from the sun.

It’s time for me to get ready for the day; 07:30 seasonal staff meeting, 08:00 breakfast; 09:00 Team Meeting, 12:00 lunch, all afternoon to fix whatever broke during the morning.

Capt. Steve
Aboard S/V Escape